State Police Monday asked an Edgartown District Court magistrate to find cause to charge the man who they believe supplied alcohol to a group of underage girls last summer, prior to a fatal automobile accident.
Jena Pothier of Oak Bluffs was a passenger in a car driven by her friend, then 17-year-old Kelly McCarron, when the car spun off Edgartown-West Tisbury road and hit several trees on the night of June 11.
Ms. Pothier died. Ms. McCarron was charged with vehicular homicide while driving under the influence of alcohol. In May, Ms. McCarron pleaded guilty as part of an agreement that required her to cooperate with police and prosecutors in their investigation of who supplied the alcohol.
District court clerk-magistrate Liza Williamson is expected to schedule a probable cause hearing in the case next month. She will decide from the statements and other evidence gathered by police whether to issue a criminal complaint.
With rare exceptions, evidence in a probable cause hearing, and the hearing itself, are not a matter of public record. If the court issues a criminal complaint, the suspect will be arraigned and all records in the case will become public.
